Karen paced the floor. Not just the floor of one room, but the entire first floor. She had been at it for hours now -- two hours to be precise. Shana, her daughter, was that far past her curfew, and after the discussion they had only the day before that was totally out of line.

Feet taking her on an automatic tour of the house, Karen found herself passing the liquor cabinet and hesitated. She went on, warning herself that she had three already, and was already fuming hotly. Another might just cause her to do something she would regret. Instead the distraught widow sat in a kitchen chair and tried to calm herself. Rosco, their pet mongrel, came over as if to console his mistress. The woman patted his head, half-heartedly ruffled dhis ears, then shooed him away.

There could be any number of reasons Shana was late. The girl had used most of them, in fact, and had begun going through her list again. Did she think her mother was stupid? Forgetful? Kids today had answers for everything -- until they forget which story they used and reveal the lies. Shana had lied too many times to be trusted by any one but a mother. After a long talk the teenager promised not to lie or be late again if she could help it.

It was that promise that helped Karen reluctantly agree to let Shana go out with her latest fling tonight -- last night to be completely accurate. It was morning now, after all. On the other hand, the girl was 18. High school now behind her, collage looming ahead. It was the last summer she was likely spend with her friends. Karen should give her a little slack. Thankfully her daughter wasn't pulling the same things she was at her age.

Promising herself she would be calm and reasonable, listen to Shana's excuse tonight but not act on them until morning, Karen made herself another drink. It was half gone, her resolve fading quickly, when Shana finally came in the side door.

She was crying. She was crying so hard, in fact, that she did not see her mother sitting in the kitchen. Shana closed the door and leaned against the frame. Arms folded tightly around her bare midriff, head bent and face scrunched up in emotional pain, the teenager sobbed helplessly. Her entire body shuddered. Watching this, Karen's anger evaporated.

The woman waited for her daughter to notice her. When she did, Shana's sobs became audible. Her arms unfolded, and Karen rose to take her child into her own.

"What is it, dear? What happened?"

"Men are such jerks," the young redhead said between gulps for air.

"This is true," Karen said sympathetically. "Stanley?"

The girl nodded, short bowl©cut hair swaying as she did. She caught another sob and rested her head on her mother's shoulder, the soft terry robe absorbing her tears. She waited for Karen to say 'I told you so,' but it didn't come.

"He dropped me for a blonde," she said, trying to laugh away the hurt. It didn't work.

Karen let the girl -- a young woman, but still her daughter -- tell the story in her own time. It turns out that Shana was having her period, and Stanley couldn't wait for her to get over it to have sex. He picked up the blonde on the dance floor, smiled and waived to Shana as they left together.

"Men suck," Shana concluded. "You can't live with 'em, and you can't live without 'em."

"Well, I agree with the first part. But I've learned to live without men in the last few years." Shana's father had died in an traffic accident when she was nine. Karen did not remarry in the time since. Her husband was not the worst of men, but hardly the best either. The woman had no intentions of wasting any more of her life -- or her only child's -- on dead end relationships.

I hope you're not suggesting I become a lesbian, mom."

"No," she said, and they both laughed a bit. Karen could see the freckles that covered her daughter's bare shoulder. The girl was a female version of her father, slight, short and feisty. She had not inherited her mother's shapely physique. The girl's skin reminded her of a softer, gentler side of her husband's nature, and had little doubt that she could learn to love intimacy with this part of him.

"That's not the only way a girl can satisfy herself," Karen forced herself to say.

"Masturbation?"

"Don't knock it."

"I don't. I mean, I do. Shit. I do masturbate, mom."

"And?"

Shana shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. Not the same, though. I mean, a girl's gotta have... God, I can't talk about this with my mother!"

"Yeah. I guess it is a little weird. But I want to help if I can. Think about it. If you change your mind, we'll talk."

The girl nodded.

"Okay. I got to go to bed now." Shana waived, turned and walked out of the kitchen. Her mother sighed deeply as she went.

The woman finished her drink, and went to the cupboard to mix another despite the hour. Her sense of relief was too welcome to shut it off so soon. Karen would stay up and savor it a while. Her movement caught Rosco's attention again, and the animal followed his mistress around in hopes that she could pay attention to him now.

"Okay, boy," the woman said as she sat back down beside the table. "Sorry to put you off. Other things on my mind." She watched as he nuzzled her robe draped lap, smiling as the terry material slipped open to reveal her bare legs. "Okay, my other kid, so you need mommy's love too. I know, I know. Just for a minute, though. Its late, and mommy's got to get up in the morning."

Karen parted her thighs and watched as Rosco's snout homed in on the musky odor even she could smell. The pink tongue flicked out ©© a wide, flat lobe of hot, wet flesh ©© seeking the dew that seeped into the woman's drip hairs. Never a great problem solver on his own, the dog had to be coaxed into position between the brunette's knees.

Once there, however, the loyal canine knew exactly what to do. His moist nose pressed against the human's clitoris, moving up and down with each extension of his tongue. The raspy surface tickled Karen's sensitive cooze, flattening her pussy hair to her skin. The glistening flesh of the womanÀÀs labia became exposed to the animal's eager tongue, revealing the source of the potent sexual discharge.

Knowing what Rosco was capable of, Karen reached into her crotch with both hands. Nervous fingers pulled her labia apart, presenting her drooling volva to the family pet. The dog's head cocked a bit to one side, his jaws opened and his tongue shot out, driving right into the woman's vaginal opening.

She gasped and bit her lower lip. She lifted one leg, allowing Rosco more room, and the tongue stabbed into her cunny once again. Karen resigned herself to a good licking. She hesitated just long enough to take a gulp of booze. Opening her yes to find the glass, she saw Shana standing in the doorway, watching.

Her heart deflated as she sat up, pushing Rosco's head from between her naked thighs. Karen's skin burned hotly as she fumbled for the drink. What could she possibly say to fix this, she wondered.

The young redhead, now dressed in the long white T-shirt she liked to call her nightie, walked past her mother and sat at the kitchen table opposite her. The silence between them stretched on until Shana realized her mother wasn't going to offer any excuses.

"So, this is what you meant when you said there were other ways for a woman to satisfy herself?"

Karen studied her daughter's face. She detected no reproach, The characteristic pinched eyebrows of anger were not evident. Shame bit at her like a bee sting all the same. In any case it was too late for denial.

"I've tried it all, I think, over the past nine years," Karen said, then sipped from the glass. "Masturbation, dildos. You know, the usual. But something was missing. another woman worked well enough for a while, then another and then several. It was the warm body I was missing, and eventually they moved on. They do, you know, just like men. It's hard to keep hunting, dear, at my age at least. I had roots, and you.

"And Rosco. True, loyal Rosco. Always willing to please." Karen drained her glass and pulled her robe more tightly around her. "It was a gag at first. Joking aloud about how neglected I was, no one to hear but Rosco. And I guessed I'd had a few too many of these." The brunette lifted the glass.

She stood and went to the cupboard. Finally Shana spoke, her voice sounding hollow in the still room.

"Suppose I could have one of those?"

Shana, Karen knew, had experimented with booze at an early age. For all she knew her daughter could still drank. There was little point in turning her down now that she was so nearly legal.

"Yeah, why not," Karen said, reaching for another glass.

"I tried it once," Shana said behind her, "With Rosco I mean. I was too scared to get anything out of it."

Karen nodded.

"Yeah, well it takes some getting used to." Facing each other at the table they raised their glasses, toasting nothing in particular.

"So it's safe?" Shana asked.

"Safe as anything else I guess. Safer than men. Not as demanding as women." They shared a chuckle over that, Shana taking her mom's word for it.

"I don't know, mom," the girl teenager her head. "It sounds too weird for me. I just can't imagine it."

"Well, you're young. There's still time for you to find Mr. Right."

"Or Ms Right." Their quip did little to lighten the mood.

"Don't give up on guys yet, dear. I met a halfway descent one, you can too."

"I don't remember Daddy being at all decent to you -- or me." Shana regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth. Her mother's pained facial expression disappeared behind her hands. The girl considered taking the words back, except that they were true.

"I just don't have the heart to go through it all again, Shana," the woman said through sobs.

Shana knelt at her side.

"You don't have to, momma. Not for me or anyone. And I'm sorry I made you cry."

Karen nodded and patted the girl's freckled knee.

"Go on to bed, dear. I'll be okay."

Shana stood and kissed her mother's forehead. The grown child moved reluctantly away, then decided it was probably best to let her mom be alone for a while.

The house became quiet around Karen again. Light headed and dazed, from the liquor and the recent conversation respectively, she remained in the chair staring trance-like into space. The woman wondered what had just happened.

The cat was out of the bag, that's what happened. Not only had she as much as told her daughter that she was having an intimate physical relationship with their pet mongrel, Shana had seen it. Caught in the act is what happened. Now what?

Karen guessed that was up to Shana. They had discussed it. Shana didn't seem to think less of her for the discovery. The girl had even admitted thinking of it herself. And the strong attraction the woman suddenly had for her child -- also a physical one -- opened a floodgate of emotions and possibilities.